The present disclosure relates generally to selector levers and, more particularly, to an alignment device for assisting in aligning a selector lever that may be found, for example, in the cockpit of an aircraft.
Conventional aircraft are commonly equipped with a selector lever for manually controlling the actuation of high-lift surfaces such as flaps, ailerons, or other moveable features of the aircraft. The selector lever is mounted in the cockpit for the pilot to select the desired equipment configuration by moving the lever to a desired position. For instance, if flaps are controlled by the selector lever, the flaps may be positioned in multiple positions corresponding to take off from a standard runway, short runway, landing, etc. The conventional selector lever is typically constructed with a shaft rotatably arranged adjacent one or two detent plates. When the lever is rotated in a desired position for controlling the associated moveable feature, a respective detent pin is positioned within a corresponding detent slot for securing the lever into position. Alignment of the detent pin within a corresponding detent slot is necessary in order to properly secure the selector lever in the desired position. However, due to the nature of the selector lever being operated in a linear movement between a forward and rear position while rotating about a central axis, aligning the detent pin within a corresponding detent slot is difficult. Accordingly, there is a need to assist the operator in properly locating the selector lever in position where the detent pin may accurately be positioned within the desired detent slot.